This evening, I have a summarizing message. We’ll begin by thinking about the message of these verses – a scriptural exposition and summary. And then we’ll follow that with a summary of the doctrines contained herein. Please realize that it will be difficult to keep those two things perfectly separate, but let’s try.
“For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” “The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.” I don’t believe that I told you earlier that the word “rich” is “plouteo” (ploo-the’-o) from which the English word “plethora” is derived. The Lord’s grace is a multifaceted, plethora of blessings, going on, and on, and on, in many areas. And without distinction of person, whoever will humbly acknowledge his true position before God, calling upon the Lord alone for salvation, Jehovah guarantees to that man His plethora of blessings.
But obviously, if someone doesn’t know the Lord, nor believes in His power, authority and will to save his soul, no one is going to call upon the God who bears that holy Name. So God has ordained that there be an army of willing human servants – saints of God – who will carry the gospel – the message of God and the message of grace to those sinners.
But even when the gospel is heard, very few obey it by repenting of their sin and putting their faith in the Lord. Isaiah said as much in his great 53rd chapter. And the reason is because faith to accept the gospel comes at the voice of God, not the voice of man. Verse 18 – “But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. But I say, Did not Israel know?” Yes, Israel knew about her condition and her responsibilities before God, because a hundred prophets throughout her history declared God’s words to her, and another thousand priests taught to her the law of God which exposed her sins. But, with only a handful of exceptions, Israel rarely made the right response to that preaching.
With that we return to Paul’s current theme. First Moses and then Isaiah told Israel that the Lord would use the heathen nations to punish, teach and lead her back to the truth. Through blessing the Gentile nations God would make Israel jealous for those blessings of the Lord. And even though they were not looking for Jehovah, Jehovah would find, call and save the wicked outside the lineage of Abraham and Jacob. And yet during that period the Lord would be stretching out his pleading arms to the wicked and back-talking nation of Israel.
To the best of my understanding this is the message of Romans 10:12-21. Now let’s go back through it, putting our magnifying glass on an important point or two of doctrine.
In fact, without consideration of background or heritage, the Lord will save any, and all, who properly call upon His Name. Of course, this calling requires a humility and repentance worthy of the Name being addressed. We aren’t talking about asking our dad for a gift, our banker for a loan, or congress for a billion dollars. This calling is being made to the Creator, Sustainer, and Judge of Heaven and earth – Jehovah. This calling must be a plea flowing out of the heart and soul – a request of faith and by faith.
Paul assumes that the people to whom he was writing knew what he meant by “salvation.” This is the third or fourth great subject of this scripture. The word “salvation” refers to the deliverance of the sinful subject from the just penalty for his sin. It is the forgiveness of that sin & the covering of that sin by the blood of God’s sacrifice – atonement. This salvation includes the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the sinner, and the imputation of the sinner’s UN-righteousness to the Lamb of God. In salvation the sinner is redeemed – purchased bought out of the slave market of sin. And along with a dozen other things, that child of the Devil is adopted into the family of God, making him an heir of God and joint-heir with Jesus Christ. Salvation is one of the subjects of this scripture, although it is assumed that we understand its meaning.
So why isn’t Heaven filling up with billions of newly regenerated children of God? Humanly speaking, very few are calling upon the name of the Lord. And the reason that they aren’t calling upon Him, is because they lack faith in Him. Of course, if they’ve never heard of Him and of His Grace they would have no reason to call. And the saints of God are just not getting the work done and the word spread. Young people cannot see that the greatest work in the world is to be a full-time ambassador for Christ. And those who have not been called into full-time service are not faithful in their part-time responsibilities. “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”
But that doesn’t explain why the Jews, surrounded by the words of God, aren’t flocking to Christ Jesus. In Moses’ day, in Isaiah’s day, under the ministry of poor Elijah and even under poorer Jeremiah, Israel was not becoming an obedient, loving, serving nation of saints. Isaiah cried out, “Who hath believed our report?” Answer: relatively few. Again we point to verse 18 – “But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. But I say, Did not Israel know?” Here we come to one of the deep but important doctrines of this book and chapter. Here we come to one of the obvious, but hated, doctrines of the Word of God.
What is it that keeps people from hearing, and yet, not hearing? This takes us back into the doctrine of the depravity of man – his total depravity. There are dozens of scriptures which teach that all of us come into this world spiritually dead. Adam was told that if he sinned against God he would die at that very moment. And when he sinned, he died – spiritually. Adam’s spiritual death was then passed on to all his children and the Bible has reiterated the fact that this condition exists universally in all of us. This being true, Romans 3 became a reality- “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” It is because of our sinful, depraved condition that Romans 5:8 is true: “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” There is nothing that an unregenerated sinner can do to please God. He can’t even properly repent. The best that he can do is repent like Pharaoh or Judas – which wasn’t repentance at all. Similarly, that dead man can’t believe, call or receive Christ either. It was pointed out to me this morning that my illustration of the cat on the hot roof, might have been improved, if the cat was dead and Judy scraped him off with a rake. Perhaps so, but that wasn’t what happened.
Here we begin to see the need for God’s special voice and call. If faith cometh by hearing the Bible, then why haven’t all the Sunday School children, why haven’t the members of all the Protestant churches, why haven’t even the Catholics rejected their false doctrines and believed on Christ? If faith cometh by hearing the Old Testament, then why isn’t Israel worshiping at the feet of Jesus? It is because faith cometh by the voice of God, and only indirectly through the pages of the Bible. The word of God in verse 17 is heard not with the ear but with the heart, after that heart has been given its own very special pair of ears. To put it bluntly, this ability to hear, obey, repent and believe actually follow regeneration.
Consider once again I Corinthians 1 – “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” Shouldn’t we equate the preaching of the cross with preaching of the gospel – preaching of the Bible? Of course, but that preaching is nothing but foolishness to the lost. “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews & Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.” The calling of God referred to in I Corinthians 1 is the effectual call which God makes sure is heard by the heart, not just the ear. This marks the difference between Pharaoh and Moses; Judas Iscariot and John or Peter. And this is why the average Jew in Isaiah’s day did not believe the prophet’s report about the Saviour. It was not until God opened Lydia’s heart that she understood that Jesus was the Christ the Messiah. God took the initiative in the salvation of that woman. It was not Paul, and it was certainly not herself. Acts 13:48 declares that only those who are ordained to eternal life believe the gospel message. It was not until God knocked Paul in the head and in his heart that he could understand the good news. Stephen’s preaching of the gospel was not sufficient or efficient enough to bring faith and repentance to the Saul of Tarsus. What that sinner needed, and which all sinners need, is the omnipotent voice of God heard by the soul and invigorating the spirit of the dead.
And this brings us to the title of our message for this evening: “Found without Seeking.” Despite being severely judged by the Lord, Israel continued in her great pride. In the fulness of time, despite her overwhelming sins, Israel rejected her Saviour, the Lord Jesus. And just as Isaiah had prophesied, the Lord turned to the Gentiles to prove His grace and mercy. The Greeks, Romans, Ethiopians, Syrians and so many others were flocking to the Lord’s salvation. Those who had not been considered the people of God, were now becoming saints of the Lord. And as saints, a plethora of divine blessings were being abundantly enjoyed by those former Heathens. They had peace, and contentment, and the freedom that guiltlessness brings. They had a hope that reached beyond the grave and a reason to live on this side of grave. Perhaps they were not rich in the things of the world, but they also lost their former longing to possess those worldly riches. The very things that Abraham once enjoyed, were being enjoyed now by the descendants of Japheth and Ham, but, for the most part, not by the physical descendants of Abraham.
Those people’s who once enjoyed their idols of gold, were now enjoying the true and living God. In point of fact, those people who were formerly not seeking God, and never would have sought Him, were actually found by Him. And herein is the great illustration of grace: Salvation is always about God’s seeking of lost souls, and not about poor, lost souls seeking him. The Bible says, “there is none that seeketh after God.”
Verses 20 and 21 lay at the core of salvation by grace. The Lord is stretching out his hands toward the world of sinners, heathen and Hebrew alike, but there is not one of those sinners who by nature reply in any way but with disgust. They are so filled with their pride and self-righteousness that they have no need for saving grace. The truth is – they are spiritually dead. But when the Lord goes beyond that gesture of ourstretched arms, or simply gospel preaching, When the Lord begins speaking to individual dead hearts, then those that were not seeking Him – turn, repent and trust him. The Lord is found of them that seek Him not. When quickened by the Holy Spirit of God, they see their need of Christ, and they “obey” in repentance and faith.